UNIVERSITY OF RIJEKA

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Academic year: 2013 - 2014

DARIJA TURKOVI
dturkovic@ffri.hr
SEMINAR TOPIC: PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT

COURSE: INTRODUCTION TO THE LINGUISTIC STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

PROFESSOR: M. BRALA VUKANOVI

RIJEKA, 2013

Introduction
Pragmatic language impairment or semantic pragmatic disorder, how it used to be called, is a
type of disorder related to the pragmatic area of language. People with this kind of disorder
have difficulties in understanding the semanticity of language; they are unable to understand
the meaning of what has been said and dont know how to use language properly within some
social circumstances. The term Semantic Pragmatic Disorder was first introduced in 1983 by
Rapin and Allen who used it to describe children with some unusual features like: using
inappropriate words and terms, lack of ability to understand linguistic areas such as grammar,
syntax, prosody etc. This term was later replaced with the one Pragmatic language impairment
(PLI), which is used nowadays, as well. DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders), one of the most prominent books printed by American Psychiatric Association,
diagnosed PLI as a social disorder regarding communication. According to Bishop and
Norbury, children with PLI understand language on quite a decent level, their way of
expressing it, is what PLI is all about.
These are the symptoms which indicate the children with PLI:
-

Having difficulties in reading and comprehending the given context

Difficulties with using pronouns and verb tenses

Disability of reading body language

Difficulty understanding questions

Constantly making same errors while speaking, such as wrong word order or
choosing wrong word category

Tendency to get lost in details, disability of bringing out the most important parts
of the story

Having difficulties in understanding jokes or sarcasm

Nonstop talking

Regardless of all these troubles, kids with PLI may achieve some impressive results in
different areas, such as mathematics, music, sports, zoology, etc.

Relations between PLI and other similar disorders

PLI is related to some disorders like autism and Asperger syndrome, but also to some nonautistic impairments such as ADHD and intellectual disability.

Autism
There has been a huge debate over a connection between autism and PLI. Some experts say
that PLI is just another word for autism (an euphemism), some, on the other hand, claim that
PLI cant be diagnosed, but rather descriptive what differentiates it from autism. Autism is a
type of disorder caused in the brain area, or to be more precise, its a disorder caused by nerve
cells disability of connecting and organizing information. It appears while child is still an
infant; it becomes established by the age of three and it continues throughout whole life.
Bishop and Norbury paid a lot of attention on this issue; they set a thesis about relations
between these two disorders. After elaborated analysis, they have concluded that PLI can be
found even in non-autistic children. Proofs indicating this theory are highly talkative and
sociable children who use verbal, as well as non-verbal communication.

Asperger syndrome
This syndrome is in fact a subcategory of autism. It is named after Austrian Pediatrician Hans
Asperger who dedicated himself on describing children who were unable to communicate
with their peers or were lacking the ability to communicate in a non-verbal way. Even though
Asperger made his researches in 1944, not until early 1990s it became a standardized
syndrome. Some scientists say that the cause of this syndrome is genetic, while the other ones
claim that it has something to do with neural disorder (similar to autism). The real truth about
what causes Asperger syndrome remains unknown. People with this kind of impairment
mostly deal with troubles in social interaction.

ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)

This type of disorder is psychiatric; it is caused by neurodevelopmental damages, what makes
it similar to autism. The difference between this disorder and the ones already mentioned is
that ADHDs symptoms dont appear immediately after childs birth, they normally appear
between the age of six and twelve. Its quite difficult to diagnose it because its symptoms
(impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, constant motion, impatience) must be observed in a six

months period or even more. In the 1970s ADHD has thought to be controversial because it
involved doctors, professors, media and parents. The matter of treating ADHD was also quite
disputable. Today, medications are prescribed only for those children who cope with some
serious symptoms and for the adults who reject going to professional advising.

Intellectual disability
Even though mental retardation is far more perplexed disorder than autism, Asperger
syndrome and ADHD, its also considered to be related to PLI regarding difficulties with
using language in social environment. Intellectual disability used to be called mental
retardation and it referred to people whose IQ was lower than 70. Contemporary definition is
consisted of two elements; the first one refers to mental (cognitive) functions, while the
second one is related to some social skills. What differs this disorder from all three explained
above, is that it has a genetic cause. It occurs as a result of wrongly combined, inherited
genes. People with some subtypes of intellectual disability such as Down syndrome dont
possess the normal number of chromosome (46), they usually have 47 or 49. Apart from
dealing with social and linguistic problems, this sort of disorder also considers difficulties in
memory skills and lacking some of the most common daily living skills (getting dressed,
feeding oneself etc.)

Conclusion
One cant help noticing that even though we live in a modern time where medicine has
thrived up to the level where there shouldnt be any, so called, tabu topic, these disorders still
remain marginal. Why is that so? I believe that majority of people is still not familiar with this
issue. Society isnt capable of fully understanding people who cope with PLI and similar
disorders and tend to mock and isolate them, not realizing how many troubles these people
and their families actually have. This problem will never be solved if public institutions dont
react. In my opinion, institutions like schools and colleges should start some kind of initiative
and educate people about how serious PLI and other similar disorders really are. In that way
we will be able to help those who suffer from such impairments and make their lives much
easier.

References:
1) M. Brala Vukanovi (2008) Understanding language, Faculty of philosophy,
University of Rijeka
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatic_language_impairment
3) Renne

Gardner

My

running

boy.

Ability

magazine

http://abilitymagazine.com/autism-gardner.html
4) http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/aspergers-adhd#1
5) Stephanie Heinatz (2013) Understanding children with autism and toe walking
Health journal http://www.thehealthjournals.com/2013/04/understanding-childrenwith-autism-and-toe-walking/
6) Courtenay Frazier Norbury, Dorothy V. M. Bishop (2010) 'Inferential processing and
story recall in children with communication problems: A comparison of specific
language impairment, pragmatic language impairment and high-functioning autism'
International journal of language and communiaction disorder No. 37, p.p. 227-251